iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 28/09/2026

New Pick of the Week by Nils van Duivendijk - Pallas's Warbler! A vagrant species in Europe, coming from Siberia, usually in autumn. By checking the new EBP viewer, you can follow its whereabouts across the continent: eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/#home...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 24/09/2026

We are proud to say that generic bird-monitoring initiatives are growing across Europe, with over 15,000 volunteers participating annually ! Data quality also seems to be improving, and more schemes are publishing their results openly. More: pecbms.info/update-on-th...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 21/09/2026

Eloïsa Matheu's Pick of the Week is the astonishing Alpine Swift! This species is Europe's largest swift, breeding in colonies in mountainous and rocky areas along the Mediterranean, and increasingly in urban areas. More: eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/#home...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 17/09/2026

The autumn issue of the EBCC newsletter is out! We are proud to say that we have reached more than 15,000 volunteers participating annually in generic bird monitoring schemes in Europe! Read about this and more from our partnership network: birdlifelinks.seurl.cz/email-audien...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 14/09/2026

Josep del Hoyo, Editor of HBW, introduces us to Wryneck, a fascinating long-distance migrant. Discover more about the Wryneck and explore its movements with the new EuroBirdPortal viewer! eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/#home... And guess which species will come next week… Write your tip in the comments

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 11/09/2026

Which species map are you looking forward to the most?

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 11/09/2026

This is the result of an incredible community effort: 750 million bird records since 2010,76 million records in 2026 alone, collaboration of 52 ornithological organisations from 41 different countries,more than 200,000 volunteer birdwatchers across Europe. The work was supported by EU LIFEProgramme

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 11/09/2026

We're excited to present the new EuroBirdPortal Viewer! For the first time, you can explore the near-real-time distribution of all bird species recorded in Europe, with access to hundreds of animated maps covering almost 600 species. eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/#home...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 04/09/2026

We wish him many success in his future birdwatching, and all of you a nice, relaxing weekend with many memorable moments in nature!

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 04/09/2026

Their day continued with visits to Artemida Lagoon, Schinias Wetland, and Ramountas agricultural area, where they observed both common and rare breeders such as the Orphean Warbler. They also visited urban streams where migrant Squacco herons were resting, with sunset at Hymettus Mountain.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 04/09/2026

Pavlos started birdwatching at age 9 during COVID lockdown, when walks with his father near their home were highlights of their day. During the May challenge, Pavlos and his father visited six localities within their region. At Spata Fields, they spotted a Cattle Egret, a lifer for Pavlos.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 04/09/2026

Every piece of data collected has a human story behind it. During the Campaign to boost the collection of complete lists in SE Europe, our Greek partner, @BirdLife Greece, shared one such story.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 21/08/2026

Can we use acoustic monitoring to count territorial birds? A study by Brüggemann and Otten introduces TASE (Territorial Acoustic Species Estimation), approach combining passive acoustic monitoring and AI bird-sound detection to estimate the number of territorial birds. www.ebcc.info/wp-content/u...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 13/08/2026

If you're in Southeast Europe this summer, take the opportunity to help improve the quality and quantity of bird observation data by submitting complete lists! Information presenting species phenological graphs, engagement and partner information available here: eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/seeli...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 31/07/2026

A recent study led by Carmen D. Soria, also using European Breeding Bird Atlas data, reveals that species richness and most distributions are consistently clustered in space across regions and time periods, confirming that biodiversity tends to form "patches." More:

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Spatial autocorrelation of species diversity and distributions in time and across spatial scales | EBCC

The results of a new study show that spatial structure is a persistent and fundamental feature of biodiversity, but it depends strongly on scale, does not change uniformly over time, and varies…

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 16/07/2026

How are Switzerland’s birds doing? Discover key insights and detailed findings in the comprehensive Vogelmonitoring 2025 report, compiled by our national partner @vogelwarte.bsky.social. Full report is available in German, French and Italian: www.vogelwarte.ch/wp-content/u...

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Reposted by European Bird Census Council

RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Latest survey reveals that Dotterel have declined by 89% since monitoring began in 1987/88 Dotterel's resilience to climate change could be supported through limiting disturbance by people and dogs, and managing grazing Read a summary: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 🪶 🧪 @naturescot.bsky.social

caption: Juvenile Dotterel

Alt text: Speckled wading bird standing on short grass, facing right against a soft pastel pink-and-lavender sky at dusk.

credit: RSPB / Ben Andrew

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 09/07/2026

Key findings: Strongest agreement for common, easily detected species. Random site selection improved habitat representation and reduced bias. Trend agreement improved with overlap time, levelling off after ~5 years. A 5-year overlap may be enough for a smooth transition.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 09/07/2026

How do you modernise bird monitoring without losing 40+ years of data? A new study @birdlife.cz compared the long-running point-count scheme with volunteers freely choosing sites (since 1982) with a new randomised, transect-based approach (2018–2024). Open access: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 03/07/2026

Colleagues at the @vogelwarte.bsky.social show that traditional owl monitoring may underestimate Long-eared Owl populations. Using a combination of short playback calls and occupancy modelling, they found increased detection rates and higher abundances. More: www.ebcc.info/wp-content/u...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 25/06/2026

📢 A new call for our Small Grant Fund projects is now open! The new call for our Small Grant Fund is now open! We wish to support low and middle-income partners in European countries in developing their bird monitoring activities: www.ebcc.info/sgf/ebcc-sma...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 16/06/2026

Stay updated with the latest from the EBCC and bird monitoring activities across Europe in our summer newsletter, featuring upcoming events and recent news from our network. Read, share, subscribe: mailchi.mp/daa9e3c7d06c...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 11/06/2026

The results of the latest completed EBCC Small Grant Fund project from Serbia are in! We are proud to have supported the work of @Birdlife Serbia, which has collected invaluable data that will enrich the upcoming Atlas of Breeding Birds of Serbia. More: www.ebcc.info/small-grant-...

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Reposted by European Bird Census Council

BirdTrack @birdtrack.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Could it be a Quail year? We've seen a big increase in reports of this elusive migrant gamebird in the last two weeks. Reports don't usually peak until late June, so it will be interesting to see whether the influx continues into the summer #ukbirding

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 09/06/2026

The call is open to everyone interested in joining; however, in the event of a vote, only EBCC delegates have the right to vote.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 09/06/2026

Join us online, on June 16th 19 CEST at the EBCC Annual General Meeting! We will present to the EBCC delegates, national partners, and interested parties the work from the past year (Chair's report), and EBCC projects: PECBMS, EBBA Live Farmland &EBP. Register here: forms.gle/ETg3KspqpF9X...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 03/06/2026

The final countdown! If you happen to be placed in one of the 13 countries in SE Europe, join our final complete list collection weekend challenge on June 6-7th! More about the challenge, countries, national partners and their on-line portals is available here: eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/seeli...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 01/06/2026

Limitations of acoustic recordings include variable species detection accuracy (for 34 species with 50 or more calls detected manually, the proportion of BirdNET detections ranged widely from 0 to 73%). There is still the need for validation and calibration against human surveys.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 01/06/2026

Acoustic data had a varying degree of correlation of call rates with BBS counts, depending on species, number of years, and spatial scale (e.g. BirdNet call rate for Skylarks was positively correlated with 5-year mean BBS count; for other species, correlations were improved by filtering)

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 01/06/2026

A study led by Wilson and colleagues at the @British Trust for Ornithology compared acoustic recording data (using the automated classifier BirdNET) with Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) counts. Volunteers deployed acoustic recorders within 28 of their 1-km BBS squares in Scotland. shorturl.at/1CZxn

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 21/05/2026

On the 2nd weekend in May, we organised a region-wide, complete list data-collection weekend across 13 countries in SE Europe. Since the start of the year, our partnership has collected approx 38,500 complete lists, surpassing records from previous years for the same time period! shorturl.at/XJvPN

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 14/05/2026

PAM and AI classifiers can be powerful complementary tools, but so far, not a replacement for traditional surveys. The most effective approach would be a hybrid system that combines model predictions with expert validation (“human-in-the-loop”) to improve accuracy over time.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 14/05/2026

Two classifiers (BirdNET, GBVC) performed best but didn't achieve near-perfect accuracy. Despite rapid improvements, manual validation is crucial. The customised model had performance gains, showing the value of tailored training data.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 14/05/2026

Audio data and point counts overlapped significantly (48%), especially for songbirds in closed habitats identified by vocalisations. More species were recorded during point counts (visual). Some species were more in audio,likely omitted as fly-overs/outside radius or missed when focusing on other sp

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 14/05/2026

A study by Roodbergen et al. in Bird Census News examined the comparability of Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) and automatic classifiers to traditional monitoring methods for tracking common bird species in Dutch agricultural landscapes. More: www.ebcc.info/wp-content/u...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 04/05/2026

A particularly interesting case is that of the Barnacle Goose, which illustrates how flexible and dynamic migration strategies have become, with more birds breeding now closer to their wintering grounds, often in the Netherlands itself, where they can be found year-round.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 04/05/2026

Although the overall indicator for marshland and freshwater birds is increasing, at a finer scale, differences among species exist: increases are mainly among birds of reeds and shrubs, while decreases are mainly among ducks. Bird species breeding at the Wadden Sea are also generally declining.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 04/05/2026

@sovonvogels.bsky.social published State of the Birds in the Netherlands 2025. Bird species associated with forest, marshland/freshwater habitats are stable/increasing, while those linked to farmland/open landscapes continue to decline. file:///D:/Downloads/State-of-Birds-in-the-Netherlands-2025.pdf

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 23/04/2026

At the same time, respondents highlighted key challenges: increasing data-processing capacity, caution and limitations in using the technology in bird-monitoring schemes, and the potential loss of the link between the work and the fieldworker community. More: www.ebcc.info/wp-content/u...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 23/04/2026

Responses from 32 European countries, indicate a strong interest in acoustic monitoring—most saw added value as a complementary tool for atlases and inventory surveys, for presence/absence data on species in remote areas, and for nocturnal, rare or hard-to-detect species.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 23/04/2026

EBCC established the Acoustic Monitoring Group (AMOG) to address these developments and encourage knowledge exchange among its partner organisations. AMOG aims to coordinate, align, and integrate acoustic bird monitoring in Europe. More: www.ebcc.info/wp-content/u...

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 23/04/2026

The role of acoustic monitoring has advanced tremendously over the last 15 years and could transform bird monitoring. As with any new technology, it brings exciting new opportunities but also a range of challenges to be addressed in bird monitoring.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 15/04/2026

Results show a recent contraction in farmland bird distribution in Europe & highlight the critical importance of long‑term, standardised monitoring. Regular spatial updates could act as early‑warning system, supporting more responsive policy reporting and conservation. More:https://shorturl.at/i25DN

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Where are farmland birds disappearing in Europe: providing regular and frequent maps from European monitoring data | EBCC

As Europe’s landscapes continue to change, many farmland birds — once widespread and familiar — are quietly vanishing. Identifying where these declines occur, how rapidly, and why is vital for…

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 15/04/2026

Example sp: Turtle dove – widespread losses across most regions; Common stonechat – slight overall increase, but strong declines in S Europe; Eurasian tree sparrow – overall loss, with limited gains in CE and N regions; Common linnet – regional contrasts, losses in S and E, gains in N and W

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 15/04/2026

We looked at PECBMS data for 50 farmland bird species in 2 periods, 2013-2017 vs 2018-2022. We obtained reliable change estimates for 43 species: 📉 33 declined, 📈 9 increased, ➖ 1 remained stable. On average, these species lost 0.79% of their European distribution in just 5 years.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 15/04/2026

Our new study, led by Sergi Herrando (EBCC chair, @ICOcells) published in Conservation Biology, shows that it is possible to create frequent and regular maps showing where farmland birds are disappearing across Europe by using the data from the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS).

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 10/04/2026

For the third time in 40 years, volunteers surveyed Brussels' breeding birds. Species richness is similar to the last atlas, but population trends tell a different story: while many waterbirds thrive, some urban and open-habitat species declined and may vanish from the city altogether.

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European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 09/04/2026

We were extremely lucky to have a physical EBCC Board meeting this spring at Parc Natural dels Ports, and are grateful to all the organisers and volunteers from @icornitologia.bsky.social who took such good care of us!

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